The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1887-01-08
TaRTPP REFORM No. 2,

one OF the Wlspst pTbNiSlHh' vi lht ''"''
constitution of Illinois is that which for
bids towns or counties To tax themselves
for the benefit Of railroad or other corpora
tions. BY this we are saved from the vast
accumulation Of Indebtedness which To-
day Is seriously threatening the future OF
Kansas. Under the stimulus Of land spec.
ulstcn, especially in town lots, the bonded
debts of many counties have already
reached such gigantic proportions that the
taxes must, for many years, seriously hin,
der the development OF the country.
The courts of the United States have
generally ruled that the taxing of public
property for private benefit is wholly lille.
gal Nor is il enough TO justify tax that
the tax payer is indirectly benefited by
the outlay of the money The tax IL lille,
gal If the sum raised is put into the hands
Of any person or corporation who does not
act under the direct authority at the tax
payers IA expressed by their votes. Public
money can be legally expended only 10y
public officers, acting in the name and by
the authority of the public.
Let this fundamental principle be
strongly maintained by every advocate Of
tariff reform, for it is a vital one. IL Is
oJsolu'ell tlleqR To tar TIE pVblic, direc'jy or
tndirecily FIR piooie jcpcM 1t matters not
whether the tax be light or heavy the
principle is the same 1t WAS not the
amount of the tax on tea which stirred up
the American Revolutions; it VS. the fac,
that an illegal tax Of any .kind was i'm
posed.
Now granting this principle to be true, 1t
does not matter one particle whether the
advocates of high tariff can or can not show
that by means of tariff certain industries
prosper, and certain men receive
higher wages than they otherwise would
do. Unless they can show that in every
instance the money thus taken is expended
under public authority, for the public use,
they admit that public money is taken for
private use For whether the public raises
the money directly by tax and pays 1t over
TO the manufacturer, or pays II indirectly by
higher prices on articles of its own pur.
chase, the government has comp lie" the
public to spend its money for private
benefit.
Let us look at the history Of the tariff
on Quinne. The war tax upon this article
was one dollar per ounce. Only three
firms In the L. = manufactured It. The
tax was so heavy that importation Of qui-
nine almost wholly ceased. The whole
import Of one year was only 800 ounces.
Quiuine sold as high as $3.50 per ounce.
The annual consumption Of the drug was
more than a million of ounces. because
of this duty every consumer had 10 pay a
dollar more for an ounce; and also the
druggists ordinary percentage profit on a
dollar, rs a matter OF course. The annual
profit of one firm on quinine alone was
over half million. The manufacture
employed only very few workmen.
Forty operatives could probably have
handled the whole product
Please notice this carefully as a typical
case. The government gets nOminally
nothing for its share. A very few work
men are employed, who, as the result
showed, would have been employed In any
case. The tax payers or consumers are
bled over million Of dollars, and one firm
gets half a million of this. The head
Of the firm left, at his death, fortune Of
over ten millions.
Now it would seem az if common sense
would have called for the repeal If this
duty as soon as Congress had the facts be-
fore It. But on the other hand the repeal
was fought with the utmost vigor. The
"quinine lobby" was a memorable Ole in
mas. Money was poured
out newspapers We're hired TO write ar
ticles in favor of the duty; the public was
informed that eve would he at the mercy
OF foreign nuliCluTtIS W HO COuiu CndlSt
US just what they pleased and Congress
reiu ed t" repeal the duty. But the medi-
cal fraternity came TO the aid of the con.
sumers, ana by their action as a body of
professional men, succeeded, in 1878, in
repeating the duty.
Asa matter of course, the price of qui. |
nine fell. In few weeks it fell 81 81 per
ounce. But more extraordinary fact is |
this: None Of these firms went out of bus |
mess They kept on making canine, but of
course with less profit. The price of qui- |
nine continued To n,l, more of il was used
AS the price diminished, and today 1t is |
quoted at from zoe to SIC an ounce, whole
sale prices and no foreigner interferes
with the American manufacturer.
No protectionist will dare TO face the
history of this case and say that this duty |
was called for by the interests of the coun.
try or the laboring classes. Most candid
men say at once, This was an extreme
case"
But the present tariff abounds In such
cases; not all affecting so many people,